DESPERATE CIVILIANS
For almost three years, civilian People’s Defence Forces have been battling around the country to oust the junta which seized power in a 2021 coup.
But the offensive launched by the TNLA and its allies – the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – in October has galvanised the anti-junta movement and presented the generals with their stiffest military challenge in decades, with groups attacking on multiple fronts.
Evidence of fierce fighting was everywhere in Namhsan.
One of the pagoda’s spires had been knocked down, an unexploded rocket lay on the ground and a building was riddled with bullet holes.
Inside, a dark pool of blood stained the floor next to blankets and food wrappers, while in the next room, more blood was smeared on the walls.
Residents who have not already fled live in fear.
“We don’t have anywhere to go. There are caves to hide in but they are a long way from our house,” said Ohmar, 50, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons.
“My neighbours left this morning to hide in the caves but on the way, artillery shells started landing all around them and so they came back here,” she said.
One man dug a hole into the side of a hill to make a rudimentary shelter – an action familiar to many across Myanmar after three years of conflict.
“I already sent my family members to other places,” resident Zaw Oo said.
Ohmar, whose house walls were perforated by bullet holes, has also dug a rough shelter that she said could hold up to 20 people.
“But it’s very tight and hot inside. If we don’t cover the whole entrance with sandbags, we are also afraid of artillery shells,” she said.
“I’m so worried for my family.”